Easy As Falling Off A Bike pt 938.

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Wuthering Dormice
(aka Bike)
Part 938
by Angharad

Copyright © 2010 Angharad
All Rights Reserved.
  
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The next morning, a Wednesday, after taking the girls to school, Julie and I went off to see Stephanie. I sat with the Guardian in the waiting room and after browsing the paper, set to battling my few remaining brain cells against that of the eighty odd year old compiler–’Araucaria’, which is the generic name for the monkey puzzle tree.

In half an hour I’d done probably half the puzzle and Stephanie called me in. I put my pen away, folded up my paper and went see what she wanted. She closed the door after I entered her room.

“Julie said you had some reservations about her going to see your old school friend?”

“Yes–I don’t know her intentions.”

“Julie said as much–so we phoned her, and Julie told her the truth.”

“Oh–and then what happened?”

“She laughed, Mummy, thought it was like a big joke. She still wants me to go.”

“You don’t think she thinks we’re telling lies to put her off?”

“That had occurred to me,“ suggested Stephanie, “but even you aren’t that devious are you?”

“Meeeee? Devious? I’m an open book.”

“Hmmm, which just happens to be printed in invisible ink.”

“Didn’t they use lemon juice for that?” Julie asked obviously thinking about schoolboy trickery.

“How appropriate,” mused Stephanie.

“Lemon juice–appropriate–hey, I’m not sure I like the sound of that, Ms trick-cyclist.” Anyone would think she was implying I was sharp tongued.

“Anyway, when she collects Julie, you can check she understood what Julie said.”

“What about helping Julie decide what she is?”

“I thought that was the whole point of this real life test?” Stephanie sighed.

“No–I meant her sexual orientation.”

“That’s up to her.”

“Can’t you help her?”

“Certainly not–she’ll know what she is when she’s ready.”

“Oh–okay.” I blushed and when Stephanie echoed what was going on in my own head, I blushed even redder.

“Is that for her benefit or yours?”

“Hers of course.”

“Are you sure, Cathy? It sounds as if some of that might be your stuff, not hers.”

“What? Of course not–I’ll love her just as much whatever she is.”

“So why do you need to know?”

“So I can help her.”

“Help her do what?”

“Resolve any issues.”

“Hers or yours?”

“No wonder you lot earn so much money–you so confuse your patients in the first session, it takes the rest of their life to sort it out.”

“Damn, you’ve just seen through my plan of world domination,” said Stephanie and began to snigger.

We talked for a few more minutes and I began to see that we just had to wait to see where life took Julie’s fancy, in the same way I’d sort of waited for my own to emerge. Actually, I think mine was so deeply buried, it needed flotation devices to help it reach the surface. If Stella hadn’t bumped into me that day, it could still be buried and I’d be almost as much a mouse as Spike. How life interrupts one’s plans or forces them to be amended–in my case, enormously.

I took Julie home and asked her what she wanted to do about Siân.

“I don’t know, Mummy–I mean, I like, told her the truth and I, like, don’t know if she believed me.”

“Do you still want to go?”

“I don’t know.”

“Has Stephanie helped?”

“Yeah, I think so–she just told me to be me.”

“Why who else were you thinking of being?”

She looked at me and burst out laughing–“You are funny, Mummy.”

“You noticed,” I said and winked. “Let’s get some lunch and do the food shopping–if we go to Morrisons, we can kill two birds with one stone.” So that’s what we did. When I saw they had roast lamb on the menu–I ordered it and Julie had the same. Obviously, it’s not as nice as home cooked food, but for the price, it’s pretty good value.

Over the next hour or two, we filled a trolley and then the boot of the car. Then it was nearly time to go and collect the three little maids from school.

“Any nearer deciding what you want to do?”

“About what?” she replied.

“Salisbury–what else?”

“Oh that?”

“Julie, don’t give me that–I’ve been listening to the wheels turning inside that pretty little head of yours all afternoon.”

“I’ll miss seeing Leon, won’t I?”

I nodded.

“And were you planning anything for mother’s day?”

I nodded again.

“Oh dear–now I don’t know what to do. What should I do, Mummy?”

“What should you do–make your flipping mind up.”

“But I want to do both.”

“I’m afraid life is all about choices and consequences. Make one and the other follows automatically.”

“You always make it sound so serious, Mummy.”

“Sometimes it is.”

“Why is it always so difficult?”

“It isn’t–but by a certain amount of effort, you’ve at least shown to yourself, at any rate, that you’ve thought about it.”

“So what?”

“If you say so.”

“You’re far too serious, Mummy.”

“So you keep telling me.”

I looked across the schoolyard and the girls had spotted us and were running to see us. “What we got fa tea, Mummy?” asked Mima.

“Bread and water,” I joked.

“Is it home made bwead?”

“Yes, why?”

“Vat’s awight ven.”

The other two sniggered and she pretended to be angry and chase them. She nearly caught Livvie, who had to accelerate rapidly to avoid her sister’s clutch. Julie and I stood and laughed at their antics and waited until they’d run off their excess energy.

“I wish I had their energy,” sighed Julie and I laughed out loud. “What’s so funny?” she snapped at me.

“You–you sound like an old woman.”

“Meee?”

“Yes you–you’re in the prime of your life or soon will be–it doesn’t get any better, you simply become more experienced–but the latest research tends to indicate that enables you to see the bigger picture and outmanoeuvre your younger opponents.”

“How do you know?”

“I read it in the Guardian while you were in with Stephanie.”

“Clever clogs,” she sneered at me.

“And some have greatness thrust upon them,” I beamed back and she scowled all the way back to the car.

Back home–Trish wanted to know how Julie had got on with her favourite shrink. I half listened to the conversation as I made the dinner.

“You phoned her up–gosh–what did she say?” Trish asked in a loud voice oblivious to my eavesdropping. “She’s still coming to get you–oh goody, we get to see her. I’ve never seen a lezzie.”

I smirked before I called her into the kitchen. “Look here, young lady, Siân is a friend of mine. That she is also the way she is, is neither here nor there. She’s an ordinary woman and I want you to show her the courtesy and respect you’d show any guest to this house.”

“But she’s a–one of those.”

“Trish, you’re one of those in some people’s eyes.”

Her face fell. “I’m not.”

“You’re not an ordinary girl are you–any more than Julie is?”

“No–I’m special like you an’ Julie.”

“Or different.”

“I prefer special, Mummy.”

“Lots of people would see you as different.”

“I don’t wanna be different,” her face turned from a pout to weeping. “I don’t wanna be different.”

“Trish, I don’t suppose Siân does, either. She isn’t different, she’s just an ordinary woman who happens to like other women. In the same way, you’re not different, just an ordinary girl who happens to have a plumbing error.”

“I’m sorry, Mummy, I was rude about your friend.”

“Yes you were–Siân is a normal woman, she doesn’t have two heads or three legs, any more than you do.”

“No, Mummy.”

“Okay, dry your eyes and go and change into your playing clothes–then you can help me set the table.”

“Yes, Mummy.” She scooted off up to her room.

The phone rang and Julie answered it, “Mummy–it’s Siân, she wants to talk to you.”

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Comments

Bike pt 938

It's nice to se that Julie is thinking and that things are getting sorted about Sian.

    Stanman
May Your Light Forever Shine
    Stanman
May Your Light Forever Shine

Siân

Is she backing off? or just testing to see if Julie realy is a Girl with a plumbing problem
Poppykin

Two sayings spring to mind

1) Sometimes you lose, and the rest of the time someone else wins.

2) Rent a teenager now, while they know everything.

Is Siân having second thoughts? Or even third ones? Tune in for (hopefully) tomorrow's exciting instalment.

Susie

More Drama! :)

It is fun trying to help people to confront reality. The think I find interesting is that reality is not a Box! It is more like a huge glop of Jello suspended in space, and the shape of it shifts unpredictably. :)

Gwen

Enjoy Cathy's wisdom

When she isn't getting depressed over her thoughts of inadequacy, she shows real wisdom. Enjoying the relationships with the kids but Trish and Livie seem more like 8 than 5 to me.

Texture!

Loved this chapter. It was full of good, chewy texture!

It almost

seemed like one step forward and one step back for Julie in this episode, Maybe the phone call from Siân might help clarify things for her, Because as things stand.... Julie might just as well toss a coin.

Kirri

Bailey Summers Liked the

Bailey Summers

Liked the chapter as usual but like others I'm wondering about the phone call.I think Sian's flippancy might be self defensive. Is she insulted and calling Cathy to tell her off? It's fun guessing.

Bailey Summers

Priceless!

Why is it children have a habit of saying such completely priceless comments?

“She’s still coming to get you—oh goody, we get to see her. I’ve never seen a lezzie.”

As Cathy tried to point out, sorry to disappoint you Trish, but lesbians don't have two heads, or three arms, or project either a lust aura or fairie glamour :)

Or at least I don't think they do!

Which (just to prove how strange my mind works) reminds me of this ancient joke:

Why do elephants paint their toenails pink?
So they can hide up cherry trees...

...well, have you ever seen an elephant in a cherry tree? No? See, now you know it works!

(I'll get my proverbial coat...)
 


There are 10 kinds of people in the world - those who understand binary and those who don't...

As the right side of the brain controls the left side of the body, then only left-handers are in their right mind!

No, I can't believe...

that Siân actually has two heads, or three legs. She's not calling to tell Cathy that there was an extra leg hidden that wasn't seen. Nope.

To be honest, I'd be more expecting that Siân was calling to stop winding Cathy up, and tell her her "honest" intentions... That, or to ask Cathy's help in dealing with her own issues. (Perhaps someone ELSE to move in? Nah...)

Glad Cathy found a way to 'splain to Trish... I was a tad concerned. The tossing stones when living in a Glass House bit came to mind.

Thanks,
Annette

Ah, crosswords ...

I got The Listener for over eight years--and never got one clue! I believe it carries on in The Times.

I still say DO NOT let her

there's got to be legal aspects to this in consideration, especially wih minors in foster custody ... I stated what would occur in My state here in USA a couple of chapters ago, and I believe at best child care services would go nuts and given Cathy's battle with them not to mention three adoption cases awating court, I certainly woudlnt be taking that chance. AND I'd get Julie to understand this as well. If julie wants to go experiement lesbianism, I'd tell her to try it with one of her girl friends. vs an adult

Sian

She strikes me as good people. She was willing to accept Charlie at his lowest point, and seems genuinely please to meet Cathy at her highest. I bet it is no big deal either way.

If she gets a whiff of Julie's history of abuse I suspect she will put in the extra mile to make up what life has done to this kid. Sian may indeed be predatory sexually, but that does not exclude having a good heart. We'll see.

Dum de Dum Dum.

Nice, we haven't had a cliff hanger for a while. Thank Dog you post every day, for those reading in real time. I'm still catching up.
Now what is the subject of this call ? Checking on Julie's story ? Reassuring Cathy, that no hanky-panky would happen ?
Or realizing that it is Mother's Day and Julie belongs with her mother on that day.

Cefin